THE MEDIA AND THE MESSAGE

THE MEDIA AND THE MESSAGE; Excerpts From Speeches on Broad Variety of Issues at the Convention in Boston

Published: July 28, 2004

Following are excerpts from some speeches last night at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, as recorded by The New York Times. Full transcripts are at nytimes.com/campaigns.

Barack Obama

There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America.

The pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states. Red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states. We coach Little League in the blue states and, yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq.

We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the Stars and Stripes, all of us defending the United States of America. In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope.

I'm not talking about blind optimism here -- the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't think about it or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. That's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs. The hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores. The hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta. The hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds. The hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope!

Teresa Heinz Kerry

My name is Teresa Heinz Kerry. And by now I hope it will come as no surprise that I have something to say. Tonight, as I have done throughout this campaign, I would like to speak to you from the heart.

With John Kerry as president, we can and we will protect our nation's security without sacrificing our civil liberties. In short, John believes that we can and we must lead the world -- as America, unique among nations, always should -- by showing the face, not of its fears, but of our hopes.

And John is a fighter. He earned his medals the old-fashion way, by putting his life on the line for his country. And no one will defend this nation more vigorously than he will. And he will always, always, be first in the line of fire. But he also knows the importance of getting it right. For him, the names of many friends inscribed in the Vietnam Memorial, that cold stone, testify to the awful toll exacted by leaders who mistake stubbornness for strength.

And that is why, as president, my husband will not fear disagreement or dissent. He believes that our voices, yours and mine, must be the voices of Freedom. And if we do not speak, neither does she. In America, the true patriots are those who dare speak truth to power. And the truth that we must speak now is that America has responsibilities that it is time for us to accept again.

Richard A. Gephardt

When I think back on the months and miles of my own campaign, my heart is full. You see, I didn't come from much. My dad was a milk truck driver, a proud member of the Teamsters. My mom was a secretary. Neither finished high school. I never dreamed I'd have the chance to serve so many people in so many ways. I found a true partner in life, my wife, Jane, who I adore, and children, Matt, Chrissy and Kate, and their families, that I couldn't be prouder of.

I had the honor to serve my constituents in Missouri and a gifted and loyal staff who helped me throughout my career. I'm a lucky man. Together, they taught me that win or lose the dream is what matters. The fight is what it's all about for an America that works for the many, not just for the few, for an America that lifts all those who've been locked out and left out of our bountian promise.

I ran for president because I wanted to give those people a voice. And I stand proudly at John Kerry's convention because he speaks for them, he strives to lift them up.

Howard Dean

I may not be the nominee, but I can tell you this. For the next 100 days, I'll be doing everything that I can to make sure that John Kerry and John Edwards take this country back for the people who built it, because tonight we are all here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.

I am proud of John Kerry's leadership and I intend to stand shoulder to shoulder with him as we fight for the things that Harry Truman promised us in 1948 -- health insurance for every single American, a jobs program that will create jobs instead of destroy them, standing up for middle-class and working Americans who got a tax increase not a tax cut and standing up for a foreign policy that relies on the president of the United States' telling the truth to the American people before we send our brave soldiers to fight in a foreign war.